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Topic: Hell's Kitchen 10 (Read 6331 times)

HK10, Ep. 9The Challenge was to create a dish from 5 ingredients specified by one pull of a slot machine wheel. Competing individuals from each team then received an ingredient basket and had 30 minutes to cook. It was judged by Ramsay head-to-head. Since they had an extra team member, the Red team had to decide whose dish of Kimmie and Robyn was better. You know how this vote turns out. The team who had that responsibility is always wrong. In this case Robyn’s dish was found better than Kimmie’s:Red Team v Blue TeamDana and Patrick - 0 pointsChristina and Royce – Christina took the pointBarbie and Brian – both took a pointTiffany and Justin – Justin took a pointRobyn and Clemenza – Clemenza took the decisive pointIt came down to a 2-2 tie before that data point, so that one determined the outcome of the entire Challenge. The Blue team won as Robyn’s dish was not good enough. Ramsay rubbed salt in the wound by stating that the Kimmie’s dish would have won. I say hindsight is is superior.The prizes for Blue were to spend a large sum of money at Sur La Table, a store of kitchen accessories. They also got to eat a special lunch at Comme Ca. The Red team had to haul and butcher a huge and heavy slab of beef from the truck.

Next was the dinner service, which focused on conflict between Robyn and the rest of her team. Justin's Filet Mignon will be on the menu for Family Night. All went well until Kimmie fired up the burner and got two very serious grease burns.

It was Family Night Dinner Service in Hell’s Kitchen. Each child would receive a complimentary mini pizza for an appetizer. Tiffany never cares so Barbie took over the pizza station. The Blue Team is relying on Brian for appetizers. His blinis look either like medallions or pancakes. Focus on food and not stand-up comedy. Back in the Red kitchen, Tiffany still doesn't care about much. "The only thing I've ever seen Tiffany care about in this competition," comments Barbie, "is a cigarette." Once again, Barbie takes over the station and got the job done.

Entrees prove to be a problem for both kitchens. Patrick of the Blue Team delivered raw rib-eye steaks while Kimmie and Robyn cannot seem to push the drama to the side and coordinate their timing. "Three filet, one hanger!" became the battle cry of the Blue kitchen: Royce called out the order, then Patrick correctly repeated it, but if asked to repeat that he got "Two filet, one hanger!" and caused Ramsay to reconsider Patrick’s future in Hell’s Kitchen. It was just not Patrick’s night. He was temporarily banished but then made the same mistake.

Robyn lied about the time her fish had sat. She said 3 minutes, but he estimated that 17 minutes was closer. A raw steak sent Royce upstairs. The Red team has completely lost control of itself, so the Blue team is sent in to help finish their orders. Clemenza, Justin and Brian finished up service. Ramsay thanked them, but Blue did not win.

The Blue team nominated Patrick and Royce while Red nominated Tiffany and Robyn. Ramsay gave Royce an unearned pass on this one. He also let Tiffany of the hook. Patrick was eliminated. Robyn received her resolution by joining the Blue team.

HK10, Ep. 11This episode started with a Challenge to make a dish based on the composite of 5 Hell’s Kitchen Craps with a special extra-large die. The individual had 10 seconds (many clearly took more) to pick an ingredient that started with the same letter of the alphabet as they rolled. The ingredients for Blue were:Heirloom TomatoesDaikonDragonfruitEdamameChicken

This meant Blue was going to have a sushi dish that would be Asian and primarily vegetarian. Ramsay said that was not good idea for the Gordon Ramsay Steak House in Las Vegas.

The Ingredients for Red were:

LambTurnipsChicoryBrussels SproutsTruffles

The dish they chose was lamb with turnips and the other vegetables.

Robyn had joined the Blue team at the end of episode 10. She brought order and discipline to lead Blue out of chaos.

It looked to me that Blue was being set up for defeat, but it miraculously pulled out a victory. The prize was a 24 hour visit to Las Vegas with accommodations in a High Roller suite where CarrotTop gave some personal advice. The Red team had to do 24 hour pork patrol when an alarm went off.

On return to Hell’s Kitchen, there were going to be VIPs at Chef’s Tables. Lee Dewyze, winner of American Idol 10 came to Blue with American Idol 9 runner-up Lee Farrah. In the Red Chef’s Table, they got David Beckham with his young son.

Clemenza messed up the first scallops of the night. Tiffany twice served cod instead of sea bass.

The evidence of which team won was overwhelming. Only Robyn had a good night in the Blue Kitchen while all of the Red team did. All 6 had their performance praised by Ramsay. It was time for nomination of 2 men. Clemenza and Royce were selected. Clemenza must be liked by Ramsay because his performance was marginal and he needed to clean up his act. Royce’s time had run out. When both had their jackets taken, Clemenza got a new one back.Modify message

There are 5 members of the Red team and 4 members of the Blue team. This episode starts with Ramsay challenging a combined 4 chefs to a wing-eating contest. However, he pulled out at the last moment and in came Joey Chestnut, the world wing-eating champion. It was Joey against the 4 chefs for first to 60 wings. Guess who won easily? With about 7 wings left from the chefs, Joey was done and excused.

Ramsay went straight into a blind taste test. He had one Red team member (Kimmie once again) sit out and then it was 4 groups of one on one. This went all the way to the last possible moment with Dana failing on sunchoke and Justin winning on that. Justin earned a perfect score on the Blind Taste Test, the first ever on Hell’s Kitchen. The Blue team got to visit Raging Waters amusement park and the Red team got punitive hard labor unloading trucks.

The next task was a Blue versus Red Menu Challenge. Each team had to design and execute a menu in less than 18 hours.

HK10, Ep. 14This episode began with a Challenge involving southern cuisine. Each pair of Blue and Red team members was to select a random entry from placards of a gospel chorus with the Blue choice revealing a protein ingredient and the Red choice revealing a side ingredient. Then each of the 4 pairs cooked 30 minutes head-to-head, with judging by Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious.com. The choices and winners were:

That gave the victory to the Red team by 3-1. Their reward was a photo shoot followed by lunch at the Beverly Hills 4 Seasons restaurant. The punishment for the Blue team was to churn butter and bake a huge quantity of rolls, both very tedious tasks.

The teams were informed by Ramsay that it was going to be the first-ever Southern cuisine night in Hell’s Kitchen. There was good performance initially from the Red team, as they leaped ahead to finish all appetizers. Then it was time for catfish to mess it up. Kimmie could not get that right after multiple tries. The Red team was fortunate that the blue team was messing up a bit too and not getting ahead of them. Brian made a critical error with raw chicken (the only worse error I know of is raw pork) and that got the entire Blue team tossed out of the kitchen. Ramsay showed the same attention to detail as Kimmie continued to demolish Southern cuisine. The Red team was also tossed out.

Ramsay mandated that each team nominate 1 (not the usual 2 so that the guilty could more easily be punished). It was Robyn (quite undeserving in my opinion) and Kimmie (who was a bully and not a very high performer) who were nominated. Ramsay selected Kimmie to depart.

Honestly, I cannot see anyone capable of running anything for Ramsay. At least that person hasn't shown up yet for me. I was glad Kimmie was given the boot by Ramsay, all she did was complain about someone else.

I agree with your list and I can see Barbie having the potential to win. I like Clemenza, I think for the most part he is an asset in the kitchen, but easily rattled. (And way overweight which I think is something that Ramsay considers as well.)

I don't like Dana and to a smaller degree, Christina. Dana is not a team player. Christina has more ability to lead but still not a team player for me. Justin could be in the finale, we haven't seen much that would disqualify him, unlike Robin who is always in the trouble limelight.

Ramsay had a Communications Relay Race ready for the teams. It teams got to cycle 3 participants (1 Blue had to sit out) through 5 minutes cooking- 1st team member, 15 seconds to transition, then 5 minutes cooking-2nd team member, then 15 seconds transition, then 5 minutes cooking-3rd team member, then repeating that cycle to reach 30 minutes total. Ramsay selected lamb, risotto and cod as the 3 items to be cooked based on having dramatically different cooking times and properties.

Red’s risotto is burnt; The blue’s is crunchy. The red team’s cod is under-cooked; Clemenza forgot the broth. Tasting of both lamb dishes revealed sub-standard one. The reward Ramsay had planned went unclaimed and both teams scrubbed up the front entrance to Hell’s Kitchen. The Ramsay told the teams that there would be a dinner service that evening and they would be cooking for a Black jacket (meaning combined final team).

For Christina's first risotto, she delivered a perfectly cooked dish, but she serves too much of it. Then just after the positive reinforcement, she almost mixed old left-over risotto with fresh risotto. Ramsay quickly insists on only fresh risotto.

On a blue team order for 5 risottos for one table. Clemenza placed risotto prepared in different pans. Ramsay set him straight. Barbie’s offer to help Christina, killed Christina’s focus. Christina burned risotto as a result.

In the blue kitchen, Brian serves raw Beef Wellington. Because Brian has to start over with the meat, Robyn’s garnishes have to be pulled. She places them in the oven, to hold them. Ramsay gives her hell for putting the old garnishes in the oven instead of making them fresh. Robyn went beserk in response. Justin has reheated the same fish that was JUST on the pass. Dana may have needed to be shown how to use one large pan as opposed to three small ones for her fish station.

The red team completed their dinner service. Meanwhile, the blue team does, in fact, lose some guests. Ramsay ordered Barbie to the blue kitchen to show Brian how to cook Wellingtons.

The red team won the night. Ramsay gives Dana, Christina, and Barbie black jackets. The Blue team had to consider which 2 to nominate. It could not accomplish that task, as Robyn was again #1 and Brian and Clemenza split the vote for #2. Ramsay had the answer anyway. He elected to give black jackets to all but Brian, who was the victim that evening.

This episode started with the arrival of master chefs Quinn Hatfield and Ludo Lefebvre in Hell’s Kitchen. Each had made a special dish for the chefs to figure out its components. This was difficult and nobody did very well.

Ramsay told the competing chefs that they were about to enter the world of Taste It and Make It. He (or the Sous Chefs) made a dish that the chefs had to deconstruct. The first choice was meat and all chose veal, which was correct. The second choice was wrap and Dana/Clemenza chose prosciutto while Robyn/Christina and Justin/Barbie chose Serrano ham; prosciutto was correct. The puree was white bean, which all got right. Dana/Clemenza missed with horseradish/wasabi as the other 2 teams were correct. Finally, the sauce for Dana/Clemenza was based on madeira while for the other 2 teams it was based on port wine. That final component gave Dana/Clemenza the victory. It was worth a private picnic on a lake plus use of jet skis. The losers got to clean the dining room, with polishing, ironing and dusting.

Ramsay had a surprise for the new Black team. It was competing against a team made up on former 2nd place finishers:HK8 RussellHK7 JayHK6 KevinHK5 PaulaHk3 BonnieHK2 Virginia

This was a formidable team if they jelled as a unit, which they did. Hell’s Kitchen was open and the usual challenges presented themselves. Robyn failed to put sufficient salad dressing on her first set of Caesar salads. Clemenza again was caught working ahead when there is no order for what he is cooking, a basic violation of Ramsay’s cook-to-order system. The 2nd place finishers rolled through appetizers rapidly and were intent of doing the same to entrees. Dana needed help on the fish station and asked both Clemenza and Robyn to help on scallops, but both of them prove to be worthless. Paula won kudos for her beef Wellington entrees. Basically, the Black team made more mistakes and appeared to me to finish after the 2nd place finishers.

The usual opportunity to nominate two for elimination was presented by Ramsay. The team got it right, Robyn for her lack of skill in helping out others and Clemenza for his problems with scallops. Ramsay sent Clemenza back in line despite this being his 7th time nominated for elimination by his peers. Ramsay gave Robyn the boot. She deserved it, but so did Clemenza. He should not let the door hit him on the back side as he stands out as the next one likely to be sent home.

It’s time for me to reveal who I expect to be the final two. Next out will be Clemenza, leaving 4 chefs remaining. Barbie and Christina will follow. The final 2 will be Justin and Dana. We’ll see.

I have been surprised by Clemenza and Barbie, particularly Barbie. She's done much better than I thought she would. She would be an asset in any kitchen. I agree with Justin, but perhaps not Dana but Christina.

Really none of the are exceptional this year, at least that's the way I see it.

The Challenge brought in Miss Teen USA winners from 2005 to 2010, all stunning 19 to 25 year old beauty queens with presumably little home cooking experience, and paired each one with a remaining chef. The task was to have the winners make chicken parmesan under the guidance, direction and supervision of the chef. The catch was that the chef could not actually touch the food in any way. All the actual manipulation of chicken and the cheese sauce had to be by the beauty queens. The winner of this Challenge was Barbie, with Dana a close second.

Barbie’s reward was a chauffeured ride in Ramsay’s Maserati plus luncheon at Ado Restaurant in Venice Beach under the tutelage of chef/owner Antonio Mure. She got to invite one other chef to join her and she chose Justin. They also paddled kayaks in Venice Canal. The losers had to prep for the first-ever Italian Night in Hell’s Kitchen.

In prep for dinner service Clemenza pounded the chicken into unnecessary thinness. Sous Chef Scott expressed that only a small amount of it could be used. Dinner service began with Barbie and Clemenza on Appetizers, Justin on Fish, Dana on Meat and Christina on Garnish stations. Clemenza was in trouble from the start, particularly when he failed twice to prove to Ramsay that he was listening to appetizer orders being called out. Barbie had a run of 3 failed butternut risottos before she mastered the art of cooking that. Both of them were in danger of getting thrown out of the kitchen. With 1.5 hours gone, only one table lacked appetizers, which they finally got. They almost immediately after received their entrees. The kitchen was in a hurry to close. Dana had burned 2 hunks of beef in her pan. Barbie failed to get the ratio of crab in capellini right and Ramsay was upset at her again.

Ramsay asked the Black team to nominate one. The team was split and nominated both Clemenza (7th time) and Barbie. Barbie’s good luck continued and Clemenza’s ran out. I believe he was brought in as the buffoon character; since he had served his purpose he could be jettisoned. Of course you could also say that Barbie was being kept around so she could be eliminated in a showy way. I think she’s next out, but we’ll see.

This began with the Maximize Profit Challenge to create and cook the highest value meal. They were each given $15 to spend on ingredients at Bristol Farms and then 10 minutes to cook. The chefs took different approaches to get high-value ingredients onto their plates. Ramsay brought in this team of judges to value the meals:David Lefevre of Manhattan Beach Post restaurant (1 star)Hugh Garvey - West Coast editor of Bon AppetitChristian Philippo, General Manager of the Patina Restaurant Group

The dishes and average value from what the judges would pay for that dish were:

The winner was Dana, who won the reward of a trip to Lefevre’s restaurant and cooking tips from Lefevre. After preparing mussels with him, she discovered that the only other diners for it were her parents. The other 3 chefs had to sort through Hell’s Kitchen’s garbage and they were not happy campers.

The dinner service involved each of the remaining 4 chefs being tested running the pass and particularly tasting everything to make sure that no tricks were being played. Present among the diners was David Hoenemeyer, President of the Las Vegas Paris restaurant. Ramsay gave the pass to Justin first. He passed his quality control test of crab placed by Sous Chef Scott in the lobster spaghetti. However, Dana gave him a hard time by trying to sabotage him on the timing of her component. Dana was next Dana missed the sugar that was put into risotto, but she otherwise did a good job. Christina was next. Her quality control test was arugula substituted for spinach, but she passed this without trouble.Barbie was the last. She had to discern that a garnish was celeriac mash and not the mashed potatoes expected. She also had to resolve a coordination issue between Dana who failed to communicate and Justin.

The 4 chefs were directed by Ramsay to prepare to enunciate why they should stay in Hell’s Kitchen. They did so with the usual trite phrases. Barbie was eliminated by Ramsay. As he was starting to state who would be going to one of the coveted spots in the finals, time ran out and we got To Be Continued, postponing the remainder of the reveal until the next telecast.

So, who will be in the finals and who eliminated? I think Justin is a high probability for the finale. I don’t know between Christina and Dana. Dana helped herself with her Maximize Profit win but hurt herself a great deal by playing timing games to disrupt other chefs running the pass.

Tonight the chef being eliminated from the top 3 is revealed at the top of the telecast. Then it appears that the banners from above will be lowered to split the dining room into 2 equal halves. The final two chefs will plan their menus for a special challenge with world-class chefs as the judges. I bet this takes place in Las Vegas, following HK tradition. The winner of that will then have first pick (as well as 3rd, 5th and 7th) from the eliminated chefs. My guess is that the order of choosing those chefs will be:

Ramsay announced the two finalists as Christina and Justin. Dana was out. Christina and Justin got a brief period of time to celebrate and then had to develop a 5 course menu for the final dinner service. They were told they were going to Las Vegas for a little enjoyment before the last 24 hours started. They went to poolside cabanas to discuss their menu with the Sous Chefs (Scott with Justin and Andi with Christina). Then they got the surprise of their families waiting to greet them. Ramsay gave them tickets to the Penn and Teller Show. One of the early acts was Penn sawing teller in half. They showed how it was done, with 2 boxes each holding one person. Teller, 5’10” (I was shocked to learn this, since he appears tiny in contrast with Penn's 6'7") was in the part with the head showing. The feet in the other box were revealed to belong to Gordon Ramsay, who is 6’1” and must have been squeezed in there. Ramsay directed Christina and Justin to join him on stage and sent them off to prepare in 1 hour in the Paris Las Vegas kitchen 5 dishes to be served to 5 special judges back on the live stage of the Penn and Teller Show. Those dishes were:

What was that worth? First pick in the choice of eliminated chefs for the “brigade” of each finalist. That meant that Christina got from 8 choices to pick the numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 chefs for her team. Her picks of Dana and Patrick while Justin picked Barbie and Brian had to be expected but then the picks got harder. Christina took Kimmie, Justin choose Royce (what was he doing there?; Tiffany must not have been available), Christina chose Robyn (although she did not want her) and Justin was left with Clemenza. Clemenza was pissy about being selected last.

That attitude boiled over as the finale competitors shared their menus with their brigades. Clemenza decided to walk out, leaving Justin one position short. Is that likely to last through dinner service the next evening? No, this is the daily manufactured drama of Hell’s Kitchen!

The menu was composed of 4 appetizers, 4 entrees and 3 desserts. Some of the items Christina presented to her brigade were:Grilled peach salad with peppersAn unusual combination of scallops and a small portion of risottoA 14 ounce veal portion

Polaroid,I agree with you, but that is the by-product of having multiple preliminary rounds and a total of 18 competitors. You have to have at least 17 rounds just to eliminate one of them each episode.